Technology based industries offer a host of products and services that involve the specific configuration or programming of various computing devices. The logic that is implemented on these computing devices are driven by business objectives. These business objectives routinely change in response to competition, consumer needs and other such dynamics. An industry that exemplifies these characteristics is the telecommunications companies.
Telecommunications companies offer a wide variety of services to homes and businesses. These services require a wide range of sophisticated computing devices, including communications devices such as switches, routers and a host of other components. For example, a telecommunication company that offers broadband services, which carries voice, data and video over one connection, requires the use of particular routing switches. As would be understood, different business services or offerings from the company may require different switches and at the very least, different configuration of similar switches. Examples of such telecommunications switches include Telcordia Service Manager, Lucent Autoplex 1000 and Nortel MTX.
Switches typically support and include a number of data tables. There are tables for such things as customer information, routing data and network architecture information. The number of tables depend upon the type of switch and can vary greatly, for instance from eight tables for one particular type of switch to thirty tables for another particular type of switch. One such table, commonly referred to as a Digit Translator table, includes information used to group sets of phone number digits together. These are phone numbers that should be routed and charged the same. Another table, commonly referred to as a Group Translator table includes information used for routing and charging calls based on the grouping of digits in the Digit Translator table. The information in the Group Translator table matches attributes of the caller (such as geographic area and originating service), to determine whether to complete a call and, if so, to what destination.
Because of cost and infrastructure constraints, broadband communications services are currently provided to cities or regions having populations of 50,000 or more. These cities or regions are commonly referred to as metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Each time broadband communications services are to be provided to a new MSA, one or more routing switches must be setup with core call routing for the MSA. Core call routing determines, among other things, how calls are routed between an originating number and a terminating number. Core call routing also determines whether calls are billed as local calls or long distance calls. Call routing is based upon the area where a call originates and requires an accurate call routing scheme in order to terminate the call correctly.
Establishing core call routing for an MSA is a complex process requiring a review of that MSA's area codes commonly referred to as Numbering Plan Administration (NPAs), the first three digits of all telephone numbers for the area (commonly called NXXs), and 7-digit versus 10-digit dialing patterns between NPAs (such as 816 versus 913 area code dialing in the Kansas City MSA). Also reviewed are trunk groups, terminating end offices, and files which are used to differentiate local calls from long distance calls. Two of the most time consuming tasks in setting up core call routing are creating the Digit and Group Translator tables referenced above.
For an average MSA, a communications company can spend up to eight weeks manually generating all necessary call routing data. Creation of the Digit Translator and Group Translator table for the New York MSA for example, required the assembly and review of 184,000 rows of call routing information to build the appropriate call routing.
The complexity and the singularity of an MSA's local call routing eliminates the possibility of creating call routing data that can be copied from an existing MSA and used for a new MSA. In addition, the variation between different switches, even those from the same manufacturer, further preclude the possibility of copying call routing data between switches. This means that the process involved in the creation of call routing data must be repeated every time a new switch is setup, a new MSA is added to an existing switch, a new switch element is introduced in the network or when other changes are made on the telecommunication network. These are examples of business logic modifications that can create substantial time and money delays in modifying a telecommunications network.
The ability for a telecommunications company to offer expanded services and upgrades, is dependent upon its ability to quickly and cost effectively implement business requirements. As previously noted, business requirements are in turn implemented on communication network equipment such as, through the setup, loading and maintaining of call routing information in various switches. As described above, if this process is tedious, it hampers the ability of a company to compete. For example, when a business logic change (such as the need to add a new area code to a city) is warranted, there must be some corresponding programming and reconfiguration of various switches and other network devices. As would be understood, the network has a variety of switches from different manufactures which require different configuration. As such, the process of reconfiguring each of those switches would greatly delay the implementation of the desired area code addition. Accordingly, there exists a need for a system and method to simplify service expansion or upgrades in a quick and cost effective manner. More particularly, there is a need to be able to implement such expansions or upgrades efficiently across similar and dissimilar switches without the need to recompile programs for each switch.